Photo by Margie Barron
Aisha Tyler is very funny and speaks her mind as co-host of the CBS daytime chat-show The Talk. She also has a lot more going on in her life then presiding over a gab-fest. Her current gigs include the action series XIII on the Reelz Channel, and doing the FX animated show Archer, adding to her impressive background.
“I’ve been around,” Aisha says about the variety of productions she has done. “I seek out complex, difficult, interesting characters that get me excited. I like to play strong women who have a sense of humor, yet are unflinching, showing the lengths people are willing to go to accomplish whatever ends they’re after. That’s incredibly satisfying for me.”
Generally in television today, Aisha thinks they tend to “pull a lot of punches. They want women to be sympathetic and precious. I want to be the real deal and surprise you. I think women are just as driven as men.”
For anyone who has enjoyed Aisha’s ramblings on The Talk, you know she’s the “real deal.” And she speaks with authority as someone who does it all.
She has done several TV dramas, other talk shows, movies, pod casts, and she’s an author. Her entertainment career was launched by doing stand-up comedy, working clubs across the U.S.
After graduating Dartmouth College, Aisha decided to pursue a career as a comedian. Her comedy skills landed her a recurring role on Friends, guest roles on TV dramas followed.
Impressing everyone with her knack for action and adventure, she took on the role of Marianne Taylor in 24 for the 2005 season.
“That was a cool show, and very different from anything else I had done at that point,” Aisha notes. Since 24, the athletic gal was a regular on CSI and Ghost Whisperer.
She is currently voicing her third season of the acclaimed FX Network’s animated adventure Archer. She brings her unique brand of comedy to her role as agent Lana Kane on the outrageous half-hour cartoon about spies.
Agent Kane is described as “a highly intelligent, stunningly beautiful, and deadly force to be reckoned with– with centerfold curves and sharp wit.” Aisha jokes, “Yeah, that’s me.”
She also teases about doing some of the crazy stuff she has gotten to do in the animated world of Archer. “Sure, I’d like to go into space and kick a whole lot of butt. And each season they seem to draw my character with bigger boobs, two extra cup sizes. I think she’s going to die like a turtle on her back, suffocating under the weight of her own breasts.”
On the new live action series XIII on Reelz starring Stuart Townsend, Tyler plays another kick-butt agent helping to unravel a conspiracy that could destroy powerful government officials. “The show is a thrill ride,” she reports.
Tyler is also a best-selling author of a hilarious collection of essays on pop culture entitled “Swerve: Reckless Observations of a Post-Modern Girl.” It is reminiscent of Aisha’s comedy that was sharpened when she was at the helm of E!’s Talk Soup. That made her an instant comedic cult icon who could hold her own against Bill Maher on Politically Incorrect and many other guest appearances.
More recently, Tyler has created an iTunes Top-10 and 5-star rated pod cast called Girl on Guy. It’s a show about stuff guys love, from a girl not afraid to speak her mind.
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